Operating openly as a private military company with the Taiwanese government’s consent, TSG provided scalable support beyond what the Pentagon could easily deliver. Congressional oversight and diplomatic sensitivities made official channels slow and cautious. As a PMC, TSG could act decisively, maintaining enough separation from Washington to give Batista precisely the strategic flexibility he needed Harrington to exploit.
When he arrived at Room 412, with its mahogany conference table, ergonomic chairs, and neutral artwork, it looked like any other executive meeting space — but that was the point. To the trained eye, the door’s thickness and the faint hum of active RF jammers hid its SCIF rating in plain sight. The room was designed to be a bubble of absolute security in a city where walls routinely had ears and spies were everywhere.
When Harrington arrived, Batista was seated at the table, patiently waiting for him. They had known each other a long time, several decades, in fact. They had fought together, bled together, suffered and shared triumphs. It was a friendship built over time through collective sacrifice. While they didn’t always see eye to eye on everything, they were one when it came to protecting this country and ensuring that no matter what happened in the future, it would be America and her allies that came out on top.
“Marcus, good to see you,” Batista said, getting straight to the point. “Sorry for calling you in like this, especially right before the New Year.”
Harrington took a seat opposite him at the table. “It’s fine, Jim. Sorry I couldn’t meet earlier — family commitment. I’m guessing this meeting has something to do with that big EDEP exercise scheduled for spring?”
He paused briefly, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “Call me paranoid, Jim, but having exercises in the South China Sea, North Pacific, Middle East, and Eastern Europe — all at once? You guys at the White House must be chewing glass by now.” Harrington’s gallows humor surfaced predictably, drawing a weary smile from Batista.
“Something like that,” Batista laughed. “With the election over, I was hoping this spring exercise was the only thing we’d have to worry about. Have you seen the size of this thing? We’re talking about the entire Eurasian Defense and Economic Pact flexing at once — Russia and China leading the charge with their junior partners all playing along. Damn, if you thought the REFORGER exercises in the eighties were big — I’m just glad the Europeans finally got serious about rearming a while back. They’re asking if we’d consider running a beefed-up EuroDefender exercise this year. I think it’s doable and the President will likely go for it too.”
“Makes sense, given what EDEP has become,” Harrington nodded. “Four years since Moscow and Beijing signed that pact, and look at them now — free movement of people and capital across member states, integrated supply chains, and a mutual defense clause that makes NATO’s Article 5 look conservative. From what I’ve heard, the Japanese are thinking this exercise might be a decoy for an attempt to seize the Miyako Islands. A few contacts I have in Saudi told me that the crown prince, MBS, thinks the Iranians are going to make a play to further consolidate their control of Iraq or maybe try to reconstitute that Achaemenid Empire the new regime’s been touting since coming to power.”
Harrington leaned forward. “No one in the Middle East is comfortable with the Iranians, Afghanis, and Pakistanis being part of EDEP. Having them backed by Russian military tech and Chinese economic muscle? That’s a nightmare scenario. And don’t get me started on North Korea having free access to Chinese ports and Russian energy. If BRICS and the old Warsaw Pact had a child raised on steroids, it’d be EDEP.”
Batista laughed at the analogy, but his expression quickly sobered. “Yeah, except this version spans from Vladivostok to Tehran, Pyongyang to Islamabad. Hell, with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Sri Lanka signed on, they’ve got the Bay of Bengal practically surrounded. As they say, amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. For all of our sakes, I’m hoping this exercise is just them testing their new integrated command structure and supply chains, not a lead-up to something more.”
He paused, then added, “But there’s another wrinkle. NSA picked up something interesting — backed up by our friends in Tokyo and Seoul. Looks like Beijing’s planning to propose some kind of new customs inspection regime at the People’s Congress in March.”
“Customs inspection?” Harrington’s eyebrows rose. “What kind of scope are we talking about?”
“That’s the thing — we don’t have all the details yet. From what we can piece together, they’re framing it as a drug enforcement initiative. But, Jim, you and I both know if they implement something like that, Taiwan’s going to be caught in the net.”
